


I've Got You, Brother

by JedimasterMegan



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Brotherly Love, Gen, Giveaway fic, Late Night Conversations, Post-Episode: s04e10 Carnage of Krell, dogma is just mentioned he's not actually there, krell is a bitch ass motherfucker for putting them through this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:47:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23199655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JedimasterMegan/pseuds/JedimasterMegan
Summary: The aftermath of Umbara is... rough, to say the least. Nighttime in the 501st barracks aren’t a particularly fun time for anyone after that, but they do what they can to help each other through it.
Relationships: CT-27-5555 | Fives | ARC-5555 & CT-5385 | Tup, Dogma & CT-5385 | Tup
Comments: 6
Kudos: 78





	I've Got You, Brother

**Author's Note:**

> Giveaway fic for @tupdidtherightthing on tumblr! It got sad but oh well :)

Fives couldn’t sleep.

He didn’t think anyone in the barracks could really. The bunks creaked almost constantly from the shifting of the bodies within them. Fives himself was responsible for adding to the noise. He’d been tossing and turning along with the rest of them for almost four hours now. How could any of them sleep when all they saw when they closed their eyes was four deadly blades, cutting down _brother_ after _brother_? How could they relax when they still heard the laugh of a madman ringing in their ears? How could they rest knowing that the moment they lost consciousness, they would be forced to relieve _every single moment_ of their worst nightmare?

Still. That didn’t stop them from trying.

Fives rolled over onto his side and buried his face in his thin, GAR-issued pillow. ‘Only the best for the best soldiers’ his ass. The familiar scent of cheap detergent flooded his senses. It did nothing to distract him from the images running through his brain.

_“Hardcase! Get back in your ship!”_

_“Will the prisoners request to be blindfolded?”_

_“You’re **shaking** , aren’t you.”_

He flipped onto his back, slowly letting out a sigh. He wasn’t looking forward to another kriff-knew-how-many hours long shift running on nothing but caf and the knowledge that it could be worse.

It could have been _so much_ worse.

He was probably lucky, all things considered. His nightmares weren’t nearly as bad as those who were sent out by that _traitor_ into the skirmish with the two-twelfth.

Fives wondered if those barracks were as restless as theirs.

He rolled over again, ending up on his stomach. Ten minutes. That’s all he wanted. Just ten minutes of good, dreamless, sleep. He focused on the sounds around him, concentrating on the quiet breathing of his brothers. It relaxed him, listening to the deep inhales and long exhales that echoed his own. He tried syncing up with the people around him just to give his mind something to do. He was able to do it with everyone he could hear, except for the rookie in the bunk in front of him.

Their breaths came quick and choppy, too short and too irregular for Fives to copy. It took him a moment to realize that the kid was crying.

Well.

It’s not like he was getting any sleep anyways.

He hopped off his bunk, landing silently on the floor. If he learned one thing in ARC training, it was how to stay quiet. He carefully padded to the other bunk. The kid had his back to him, and Fives could see the outline of his form shake with each half-silent sob.

“Hey,” he whispered, lightly resting his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Kid.”

The rookie jumped, twisting to face him. “Easy there.” He crouched down to be closer to the kid’s face. “I heard you crying,” he said.

“I’m fine. Sir,” the kid replied, like he didn’t have tear tracks on his cheeks.

Like anyone could be fine after what they went through.

Fives shook his head and sat back on his knees. The kid watched him with wide eyes. “It’s Tup, right?” he asked.

He nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Not sir. Not here. Right now I’m just Fives, alright?” He waited for Tup to nod again before continuing. “So.” He took a deep breath. “How you holding up?”

Tup squirmed a bit underneath his thin blanket. “I’m not–” He looked at Fives for a moment, then sighed. “Not good.”

Fives gave him a sad smile. “Lose someone?”

Tup nodded.

“Who?”

Tup tensed. Fives could make out his eyes narrowing ever so slightly. He frowned. “It’s okay if you don't–”

“Dogma.”

Fives blinked. Oh.

_Oh._

* * *

Tup scoffed and turned away from him, ignoring the prick of tears in his eyes that came from saying _his_ name again. “I know what you’re going to say,” he whispered to Fives. They all said it eventually, in one way or another. “You think he deserved what he got. That I shouldn’t be mourning a _traitor_ –”

“Dogma wasn’t a traitor.”

Tup blinked. He rolled back to face the ARC. “What?”

“He wasn’t a traitor,” Fives repeated. He sighed, closing his eyes. When he opened them again, Tup thought he looked guilty, though it was hard to tell in the low light.

“You know why they… 'took him away’?” the ARC asked. Tup opened his mouth to answer, but found he couldn’t speak past the lump of emotions gathered in his throat.

He knew what Dogma had done down in the detention block of the airbase, and it _hurt_. It hurt to imagine how his friend must have felt in that moment, staring down the back-stabbing, son-of-a-Hutt general who tricked them into _murdering_ their own _brothers_. It hurt to think of Dogma put on trial and accused of being a traitor when all he did was kill the true traitor in their midst.

It hurt to realize his brother was _gone_.

And it hurt knowing that he wasn’t coming back.

“Tup? You okay?” Fives said.

Tup wanted to curl up into a ball, to hide away from the world and the unfairness of it all. “He just wanted to do what was _right_ ,” he whispered, feeling his voice crack on the words. “He saved us from Kre- from that _monster_ , and _they took him away.”_

The next thing he knew Fives was squished in the bunk next to him, holding him tight. He finally let the tears fall as he relaxed into his older brother’s embrace. “He did good and now he’s _gone_ , how could they just _take him_ ,” he said, trying to keep his sobs as quiet as possible. Fives only hugged him tighter.

It took Tup a while to calm down again. He no longer cried, but his chest still heaved with every breath he took. The ARC kept holding him close, rubbing soothing circles into his back. “I promise you, Tup.” Fives said softly, carefully wiping away some of the tear tracks on his cheek. “You’ll _never_ have to see another clone punished for trying to do the right thing.”

And Tup believed him.

**Author's Note:**

> If the last line makes you hurt then that means I've done my job >:)
> 
> I'm @its-captain-sir on tumblr if you wanna yell at me or say hi


End file.
